This week, we're heading to Vienna, Virginia for a live broadcast from the Filene Center at Wolf Trap National Park for the Performing Arts, where the wolves howl up on the big hill. You've heard their musical accomplishments as solo artists, but now singers Sara Watkins, Sarah Jarosz, and Aoife O'Donovan will debut their knockout I'm With Her trio stateside after a much-lauded barnstorming tour through Europe. The crack instrumentalists of the United States Navy Band join us to boost the public radio esprit de corps and kick off the Memorial Day weekend with a few marches, patriotic selections, and orchestral features. Plus, our Royal Academy of Radio Actors, Tim Russell, Sue Scott, and Fred Newman, will lend their voices to some over-the-air theater; and music director and pianist Rich Dworsky will lead The Wolves of Rhythm (Bernie Dresel on drums, bassist Larry Kohut, Richard Kriehn on mandolin and fiddle, and guitarist Chris Siebold) on some hot jazz and rock 'n' roll favorites. All that and the latest News from Lake Wobegon, and you have the perfect recipe for the start of summer (or something like it). Fire up the grill and the radio and we'll see you Saturday evening.
  • I'm With Her

    Last year in Colorado, Sara Watkins, Sarah Jarosz, and Aoife O'Donovan were asked to merge their considerable talents and put together a last-minute set as the Telluride Bluegrass Festival was drawing to a close. "This should be a thing," the three thought. And now it is. So far, their 2015 I'm With Her Tour has taken them to Europe, the U.K., and across the U.S. And their two-song EP was released earlier this month.
  • The United States Navy Band

    The United States Navy Band is the premier musical organization of the U.S. Navy. Since it was established by Congress in 1925, the Navy Band has been entertaining audiences and supporting the Navy with some of the best musicians in the country. From national concert tours to presidential inaugurals to memorial services at Arlington National Cemetery, the Navy Band is constantly reaffirming why they are called "The World's Finest."
  • Garrison Keillor

    Garrison Keillor was born in 1942 in Anoka, Minnesota. He went to work for Minnesota Public Radio in 1969, and on July 6, 1974, he hosted the first broadcast of A Prairie Home Companion in St. Paul. He is the host of The Writer's Almanac and the editor of the Good Poems series of anthologies from Viking.
  • Rich Dworsky and The Wolves of Rhythm - May 23, 2015

    Richard Dworsky Keyboardist, composer, and arranger Richard Dworsky is APHC's music director. He leads the band, composes themes, improvises script underscores, and collaborates with such diverse guests as Yo-Yo Ma, James Taylor, Brad Paisley, Kristin Chenoweth, and Sheryl Crow. He has released many recordings of original material and has provided music for documentaries on HBO and PBS. Bernie Dresel Bernie Dresel has been in the percussion game since he got his first drum kit at age two. After graduating from the Eastman School of Music, he headed to Los Angeles. He's worked with countless artists, from Chaka Khan to Brian Wilson, and spent 15 years with the Brian Setzer Orchestra. He's currently with Gordon Goodwin's Big Phat Band and heads up his own 12-piece funk band, BERN. Larry Kohut Bassist Larry Kohut has played on dozens of albums and many film scores, as well as performing with jazz artists such as Patricia Barber, Mel Torme, Vincent Colaiuta, and Tony Bennett. In addition, he is an adjunct faculty member at Columbia College Chicago, where he teaches acoustic and electric bass. Richard Kriehn When Richard Kriehn turned 10, his mom bought him a mandolin; at 19, he'd won the Buck White International Mandolin Contest. He went on to play with the Nashville Mandolin Ensemble and bluegrass group 1946. On the classical side, he has performed with numerous orchestras and was principal second violin for the Washington/Idaho Symphony. Chris Siebold Bluegrass to big band jazz, Chris Siebold knows his way around a guitar - or a bunch of other instruments, for that matter. Based in Chicago, he draws from a deep well of influences and styles, and has put his talents to work in ensembles such as Howard Levy's Acoustic Express and Kick the Cat. In 2010, he formed the band Psycles, whose album Live at Martyrs' was released the following year.
  • Tim Russell

    One minute he's mild-mannered Tim Russell; the next he's George Bush or Julia Child or Barack Obama. We've yet to stump this man of many voices. Says fellow APHC actor Sue Scott, "He does a better Ira Glass than Ira Glass." A well-known Twin Cities radio personality and voice actor, Tim appeared in the Robert Altman film A Prairie Home Companion and the Coen brothers' A Serious Man. Tim has also been reviewing films professionally for over 10 years.
  • Sue Scott

    On APHC, Sue Scott plays everything from ditzy teenagers to Guy Noir stunners to leathery crones who've smoked one pack of Camel straights too many. The Tucson, Arizona, native is well known for her extensive commercial and voice-over work on radio and television, as well as stage and movie roles, including the part of "Donna" in Robert Altman's A Prairie Home Companion.
  • Fred Newman

    Sound effects man Fred Newman is an actor, writer, musician, and sound designer for film and TV. Turns out, no one is more surprised than Fred that he's made a career out of doing what he used to do behind the teacher's back -crossing his eyes, making sounds, and doing voices. He readily admits that, growing up, he was unceremoniously removed from several classrooms, "once by my bottom lip."